Is Corporate Storytelling More Art or Science?

June 20, 2023

Corporate storytelling is a little of both art and science. The science side of the equation begins with research. 

If you want to tell a good corporate story and capture the media or investors’ interest, you must know which elements go into crafting that story. How do you do it? Let’s review an investigatory process, if you will, that you can use to determine what elements your story should contain.

Corporate storytelling best practices

First, start from the inside out with a clear-eyed view of your business. Here are some questions you should ask yourself to get there:

• Can the company clearly articulate its strategic vision (i.e., does it know where it’s going and how it is going to get there)?
• What is the company’s current story and how does it deliver it to the media and investors?
• What aspects of the company’s story are unknown, unrecognized or misunderstood that could be value-creation assets if told in a compelling and meaningful way?
• How competitive is the company in the marketplace?
• What is the historic and current level of management credibility within the news industry and investment community, and what are the contributing factors?
• What is the company’s historic and current performance-to-expectations ratio, and what are the contributing factors?
• What does the segmentation of the investment audience look like?

Similarly, you’ll need an unvarnished view of the company, seen from those on the outside. Here are some questions that can help you assess how you are viewed externally:

• How do media and investors view the industry and/or the end markets? How does this match up with historic views and future outlook?
• What is the current investor base composition?
• What is the current investor sentiment for the company and its current/desired peers?
• What does the gap analysis of the company’s investor engagement versus current/desired peers look like?
• What does the company’s media coverage look like on a quantitative and qualitative basis against the coverage generated by peers?
• What are the primary external factors that influence valuation and what conclusions can be drawn when they are mapped?
• How well does the company’s current story resonate with investors?

This data – which should be audited and reconciled as regularly as you would your financial and enterprise risk-management reporting – will ensure that your corporate narrative properly aligns the business and the investment brand. This alignment is critical to long-term value creation.

On a day-to-day basis, corporate storytelling can mean the difference between news coverage of your event, product launch or an investment in your company rather than a peer. Storytelling can enhance the understanding of the enterprise by simplifying its complexity and neutralizing potential value deflators. And, in times of organizational distress, including shareholder activism, effective corporate storytelling can mean the difference between a vote of support and a vote of no confidence.

Simply put, effective storytelling is the key to media and investor engagement.

Ready to refine your PR and storytelling game? Contact Falls & Co. and let’s explore the possibilities.